Ch 1 – The tear of the Blood Moon
by anteka2due
Summary: Something's wrong with Link and the Master Sword knows it. Malicious red blood tears fall from the sky and a mysterious yellow Guardian has been stalking Link for weeks. Link didn't realize until it was too late and he might bring ruin to himself. Luckily he's not fighting alone. [SidLink romance]


_**Ch. 1 – The tear of the Blood Moon**_

The sun was creeping down at the horizon under a thick cover of thundering clouds, sending red rays over the mountains of the Zora domain for brief few minutes before letting the grey darkness cover the whole picture. Link lingered for the only warmth it could offer until it was possible, gliding down from mountain top to another below, struggling to keep his grip tight. As he saw the light disappear, he sighed deeply and focused on the path he was following. He was wounded, exhausted, furious… in the last past days everything just went wrong and now he couldn't even use the Sheikah slate to teleport, his last attempt to get into the castle ended horribly and he was forced to retreat.

" _Without my sword… I'm a lost cause…"_ His mind kept replaying the same thought over and over, bringing his hope down into a dark abyss.

He prepared himself to land on a cliff and he managed to grab onto the rock without much difficulty, but he forgot for a moment about his wounded side, hissing at the impact and almost losing balance. Luckily, he still had a good self-control. He placed a hand over the bloody side, taking a moment to stabilize himself, when a metallic noise made him jolt. Not far below from his position, a guardian was roaming in the area, patrolling and hunting. If looks could kill, Link would have made it explode on the spot. He remembered well that guardian, he fought it not long ago during a rainy night, but the recent blood moon brought it back into Calamity Ganon's control.

Link took a deep breath and moved as quietly as possible to reach the top of the cliff, he was in no shape to fight, the wisest thing was to avoid combat and find a safe place to heal. He pulled himself up panting and he sat on the cold rock to rest for just a second. The guardian below hadn't seen him, but he still needed to move, monsters around were still too dangerous for him to face. He could have still sniped them from above with his arrows, but it would have surely attracted unwanted attention.

With a pat on his legs, he stood up and kept his profile low, sending time to time a look to the sky. Rain always made his climbing a true challenge, but at least it gave him cover with its noise. He tried anyway to get to the domain as quickly as possible.

A bright flash caught his eyes. A red light dropped from the sky, piercing through the clouds and landing into the woods down the valley. Link knew that light already, the last one he saw was right few hours before, under the Blood Moon. He had no idea what it was, he tried to get to it, but being surrounded by guardians was quite an obstacle. He instinctively took out his slate to sign where it landed, but he groaned as he saw the device's conditions. Its screen was smashed into a web of cracks and the image was a broken jigsaw. He totally forgot about it… Suddenly the spot where the red comet landed shone with what Link could only describe as malicious energy and the trees around it died instantly as the a slithering small essence rose and crawled away. Link bit his lip, quickly put the slate away and made haste on his pace. _"Nope."_ Whatever it was, it was big trouble.

Finally, he could see the palace of king Dorephan. Just the sight of it gave him a bit of hope, there he was welcomed and he knew someone was always there waiting for him to return. He stopped a moment to take a breath and to look around himself. The red beam from Vah Ruta pulsed and caught his eye. He followed it with his sight up to the Divine Beast, but he quickly looked away shameful, feeling Mipha's gaze heavy on him. He looked at the other three Beasts following their beams…. It didn't matter how far they were, he felt his heart sink from the pressure once again and he grimaced. He took a first step to the palace, but that little hope he had earlier died as he sent a last glance to the castle.

Unbeknownst to him, the roaming guardian had set foot to the path for the Zora domain as well.

"Father!"

King Dorephan looked up from the papers Muzu was passing him and he noticed his son running up the stairs to the throne. "Ah! Son, welcome back." Sidon has been out since the day before, guarding the main path of the domain and checking on the guards. The king send a sideway glance back to the manta-ray zora. "Let's finish this later, Muzu, but do confirm the trade with the Gerudo for now." Muzu grumbled while rolling back the papers and walked out of the room, sending a grumpy salute to the prince, who responded with a snort. "Seen anything unusual on the borders?" The king cheerfully asked him, but his good mood suddenly died as he saw Sidon quickly change expression as Muzu was out.

"We need to talk." Sidon had a pretty worried and serious tone.

King Dorephan nodded and got up from his throne. He silently walked behind it where there was the staircase to their private rooms upstairs, followed by Sidon. He closed the door of his study after his son and looked down at him with grave eyes. "Speak, son. Was it Mipha?" And Sidon nodded. Since Link had managed to free the Divine Beast Vah Ruta from Calamity Ganon's influence, Mipha's spirit finally found freedom from its darkness, connecting herself to Link and to her family once again. She found herself able to visit her dear father and her precious little brother in their dreams, reconnecting lost memories and finding true peace. They spent numerous nights sharing dreams and Mipha shared with them Link's progress on his quest.

"She's worried for Master Link, father, she noticed a deep change in him lately. He might be in great danger because of it. She couldn't say what it is exactly, but even all the other Champions noticed something is off with him. She said she tried to get in contact with him, all the Champions did, but none succeeded."

King Dorephan frowned deeply and remained silent for few moments, thoughtful. "Did he manage to retrieve the Master Sword?"

Sidon shook his head. "Mipha lost contacts with him after his last try, yet she saw him go to the Castle once few days ago." His jaws tightened tensed and he took a deep breath. "I suggest sending the scouts to find him, father. We need to get him home." He said, letting emotion through his voice.

The king's frown transformed into a sad smile and he put a hand on Sidon's shoulder. "Son, I understand your concern, but… unfortunately, you know better than me that we are limited in helping Link, and sending the scouts out of our domain is too risky, especially now with the new monsters appearing after the last Divine Beast has been freed." Sidon was there to say something, but King Dorephan didn't let him. "I know, I know, it's frustrating to just stay here and wait for him to return, but don't forget he's a Champion, son, at the moment he's the strongest warrior in all Hyrule."

Sidon could only agree with him, but nothing was going to make him stop worrying for his dear friend. "I'll tell the guards to be more alert on the boarders and at the shrine in case he returns."

"And we'll see what's bothering him." The king nodded and patted his arm. "Keep your sword sharp, son, always-"

"-be ready to fight." He tried a smile. "Yes, father."

The king chuckled and took his way downstairs. "I'll have dinner ready soon. Don't be late or I'll have your portion as well."

Sidon rolled his eyes, smiling, and headed to his own room, he needed a moment for himself. He closed the door after himself and gladly started taking off his garments, neatly putting each into their place. Once free of everything, he took a step into his private pool and allowed himself to sink, leaving just his eyes out. The water was warm and made his muscles finally relax. " _Father is right…I just hope Link is doing alright."_ He sighed and closed his eyes. " _Dear sister, please keep watching over him."_

His mind quickly drove off to precious memories. Last time Link visited, he and Sidon have been spending quite some time together, especially on top of the highest waterfall right outside the city. They used to exercise together at sword parrying in the afternoon and fishing in the evening, to then sit over the edge of the cliff admiring the lights of the palace after sundown. Link has never been a chatterbox, but his company was dear. Good listener, generous, sassy and wise. That's how he'd quickly describe his friend, no wonder Mipha fell in love with him. At that last thought, Sidon groaned to himself and sunk completely in the water. " _No wonder."_

It wasn't too long after Sidon got out of his room that he heard a guard sound the alarm. He dropped the conversation he was having with the shopkeepers and he rushed to the plaza.

"Sire!" A guard called and she pointed to the sky. "Master Link has returned!"

And there he was, paragliding down his way to the main bridge at the entrance of the domain. Sidon looked up at him unable to hold a big bright smile, it's been a pretty long time since Link left. Yet, the closer he got, the more noticeable was his conditions. Sidon stared in horror when he noticed his side drenched with blood, showing a huge cut in his armour. "Healer!" He called and a guard darted to find her, while Sidon hurried to Link, crossing the main bridge. Link stumbled as he landed, but kept himself up right with dignity and pride, yet placing a hand on the wound. His eyes quickly caught Sidon running towards him, he really wanted to smile at him, but his mood was way too dark for even that and he even ended up grimacing for the pain as he took a first step forward. Sidon stopped in front of him, looking at him with big worry and asking him too many things all at once. Link groaned and raised his hand to make him stop, he looked up in the tall prince's eyes and simply said "Pool." His voice was calm, but at the same time frustrated. Sidon was clearly taken by surprise by that, so he carefully offered to carry his gear, to which Link showed no resistance, but he did show a bit of gratitude. He took everything his friend was carrying, finding it astounding how Link had so much heavy stuff on his person and still being able to move, and led him to the healer.

Link got heavily patched up, the medic applied strong stitches on the wound and wrapped his torso up with bandages. He got other bandages around his head, arms and one ankle. He lazily floated into the healing pool, relaxing and letting the hot water massage his sore body, taking deep breaths and gently shaking his head to let his long hair float around.

"My work here is done for now," said the old medic zora as she packed up her tools, "he needs a goodnight rest and a rich meal." She looked up at Sidon with a grin. "Try to not bother him too much, kiddo." And she gave him a playful punch on the arm.

The prince snorted embarrassed and nodded. "Thanks, Nana, I'll look over him."

"I had no doubts." She picked her bag and headed to the door. "Be sure he eats, eh." She waved and walked out.

The only lights in the room came from the bioluminescence of the stones in the walls and from the bottom of the pool, giving the room a calm, warm atmosphere.

Link had sunk underwater for few seconds and he made a puffing sound as he resurfaced, rubbing his face with a hand. Sidon was looking at him and found it weird that the hylian wasn't even looking back. He took the tray with Link's hot meal and walked up to the pool, descended the few steps until the water was at his chest and let the tray on the border. "Link?"

No response, Link even looked at the opposite direction, but Sidon insisted. He walked up to him and stood at his side, looking down at him. "My dear friend, what happened?"

Link didn't react at first, but after a long while he turned to face him, sighing deeply. His eyes dropped almost immediately though, full of shame.

"You can tell me." He invited as his hands moved under his friend and he gently scooped him, pulling him towards the steps of the pool. He sat in the shallow water, letting Link float over his lap.

"The Master Sword… doesn't accept me…" The blond young man rasped, barely keeping rage into check. "The more I try, the more I fail." His fists were tight over his belly, shivering and tensing up, making the veins of his arms pop out. "I don't know what it wants from me! I freed every Beast, trained in every shrine… am I not worthy enough? Even the monks accepted my worth!" He sat up holding his head in his hands, "I tried to get into the castle already, but without the Sword I cannot fight! I cannot help Zelda!"

Sidon didn't even dare to touch him at that point, he'd never seen him that frustrated, that angry…he couldn't even tell if the vapour rising from him was because of the pool or his rage. He suddenly saw tears signing Link's cheeks and he bit his lips, not knowing what to do. Yet, his arms cautiously closed around Link instinctively and pulled him in against his chest. The hylian didn't oppose, he actually seemed to welcome that warmth and leaned against him to rest.

Sidon took a deep breath, relieved, and moved a lock of blonde hair away from Link's face. "Link? You know why I keep saying I believe in you? It's because I really do, it's not just something I say lightly to simply cheer you up. And you well know I'm not the only one. Mipha believes in you, Father believes in you, the whole domain does." He offered a sincere smile. "We all know you will be triumphant! You're the only one worthy of such an honourable task, we know you'll succeed! Soon or later, you'll be able to hold the Master Sword once again, I'm sure of it."

Much to the zora prince's surprise, Link didn't react if not with a grimace. Fear started sinking into Sidon's heart, Mipha was right, something was wrong.

"They fell silent, sire." The guard whispered as he pressed his ear more against the infirmary door. King Dorephan pressed his as well, grumbling and crouching for a better position. "What do you think they are doing, sire?"

"Hmmm…. You think they kissed?"

The guard looked up at the big king with quite a surprised look, but he froze as he saw a shadow casting over the door. He looked towards the corridor to see the small frame of the old zora healer Nanadee, glaring at them both with hands on her hips. The guard straightened up in a hurry, blushing and gulping. "Sire?" He called, trembling.

"Hmmm, I might get a ceremonial supper ready, you never know." He whispered, smiling to himself, fully unaware of the situation.

"Sire!" The guard pressed on, finally catching his attention. King Dorephan frowned down at him, not pleased to have been interrupted from his planning, but seeing the guard on alert, he looked behind him finding the small old lady. He froze guilty.

"I should have known." She hissed and stomped toward them. She quickly took hold of the king's long tail and sent a glare to the guard, making him sweat like a frog in the desert. "You better keep doing your job." She then pulled the king away. "Let's go, we have things to do."

"Yes, Nana…" The king sighed as he followed.

Eventually Sidon managed to make Link have his meal. At first Link wanted nothing to do with it, but hunger soon prevailed and he started eating like a starving wolf. He sadly chuckled while holding the floating tray in front of Link and waited for him to be done. "You feel better?"

Link leaned against him nodding, full and satisfied, letting his legs float. His mood seemed to get a bit better as well, finally showing how glad he was being with the prince, but without saying a word though.

Sidon looked down at him with a bit of pride, brushing his hair away from the bandage around his head. "…You look better, I see your wounds healing up."

Link looked up with silent eyes, but Sidon noticed for the first time that day a slight sparkle of positive hope. That little thing made him beam with hope as well.

"Rest, my dear friend, you deserve it. When you'll be alright, I'm sure you'll find your strength to conquer the Master Sword once again." He smiled and Link unexpectedly smiled back in a soft nod.

It was then that the alarm started singing loud and clear, followed by a guard screaming "GUARDIAN IN THE DOMAIN! GUARDIAN IN THE DOMAIN!"

And at that, Sidon saw that small sparkle in Link's eyes flashing red.

* * *

Hello everyone!  
I'm kind of back on track with my writing, but I wanted to start something different. I'm afraid my previous works won't see the end, I got stuck, despite I really loved it and many people liked it I cannot bring myself to finish it, I'm sorry :c If people wanna know stuff about them, feel free to ask!

I've been pretty busy with work, but I had a ton of fun with Breath of the Wild, so now it's time to ship the hell out of Sidon and Link huehuehuehuehue  
This little project started as a little thing that popped into my head while going to work one morning and I had to scribble it down. I'll update 2-3 times a month due to my time being pretty full, but I'll do my best to finish it and I do hope you'll all enjoy!

Big hugs,  
2Due


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